


Hidden Friendship

by Katsuko_Maru



Series: Hidden Meetings [2]
Category: Magic Kaito, 名探偵コナン | Detective Conan | Case Closed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-06-21
Updated: 2018-04-15
Packaged: 2018-11-16 21:35:11
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,621
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11261472
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Katsuko_Maru/pseuds/Katsuko_Maru
Summary: Sequel to A Snowy Meeting.Kid and Conan have become friends following the events at Kitanosawa village. How will this hidden friendship between detective and thief affect their daily lives?





	1. Movie 16: The Eleventh Striker - Part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! The first chapter of A Snowy Meeting's sequel. Just like that story it will be necessary (or at least highly recommended) that you watch the movies/episodes that the chapters are based around, otherwise not only will it likely not make sense but it will spoil the stories involved. You've been warned. 
> 
> For those of you who've gotten used to my fast posting of A Snowy Meeting here on AO3 I'll have to disappoint you - this story will be much less regular/fast - I'd been racing to get the prequel posted here quickly in order to meet my self-imposed deadline of posting this by Kid's birthday (Happy Birthday Kuroba Kaito!) But I do have the first few chapters ready so it should be steady for a while. 
> 
> This story starts one month after the events of A Snowy Meeting  (if you’re curious about how I worked that out, see the bottom A/N, this one's long enough as is).
> 
> **Disclaimer (which shall hereby be applied to the entirely of this work): This is a fanfiction. I do now own Detective Conan or Magic Kaito; those rights belong to Gosho Aoyama.**
> 
>  
> 
> For this story, the formatting will be:
> 
> "Dialogue"  
>  _'Thoughts'_  
>  **Texts**  
>  **"Dialogue overheard through a medium"** (Such as Kaito's bugs)
> 
> Finally - we all know Kaitou Kid can disguise as anyone he wants, right? So I’ve decided to have some fun with that fact by having some of the disguises Kaito uses in my story actually be based off of someone seen on screen (even if that person is simply in the background crowd for a few seconds) whenever I can. The first "Where's Kid?" is in this chapter, so see if you can spot him - I'll reveal where he was in the next chapter.
> 
> The picture below is the cover image I've chosen for this story. The original image ISN'T mine nor do I claim it to be, but I did edit it a little from the original.
> 
> Sorry for the long note! Happy reading! ^_~

 

* * *

 

Kaito glanced in the mirror one last time to make sure everything was in order for his disguise. A few slight modifications had altered the shape of his face and a pair of contacts darkened his eyes to an inky brown. He wore a wig of a much lighter brown than his natural tint; it was parted in the middle ran nearly to his chin before curling up and out at the ends in a currently trending style. He had a faint yellow shirt with a tan jacket over a pair of dark blue jeans. As the final clinching touch, a photographer’s grade camera hung around his neck.

An overall nondescript look with a clearly identifiable purpose for being there. Perfect.

Grinning, he made his way out onto the main field area of Beika Sports Land, where the 16th annual J-league soccer class was just getting underway. The Shounen-tantei-dan had managed to win the raffle allowing them to participate in the highly popular event, a fact that Kudo had mentioned offhand a few too many times for his blasé attitude to be completely genuine. It had reminded Kaito of the rumors he’d heard about Kudo Shinichi’s soccer skills and had made him realize that he’d never actually seen the detective play the sport – at least outside of freakishly super powered, weaponized shots.

He’d considered asking Kudo if he could just tag along, but where would the fun of that be?

He smirked at the thought as he approached the edge of the field, stopping occasionally to take pictures of the kids and players.  A glance around quickly located the Shounen-tantei-dan. It looked like they’d been paired with Hideo Akagi of the Tokyo Spirts. As Kaito silently walked past the group (surreptitiously attaching a listening bug to the back of the bench they were standing in front of) he was just in time to see the other four kids switch places with Conan on the sidelines. The detective had an odd little smirk as he walked onto the field and Kaito got the feeling he was in for a show.

He wasn’t disappointed.

As soon as Hideo-san kicked the ball to him, Conan caught it with his chest, did several little kicks to get the ball into a position he liked then kicked it back, all without letting the it touch the ground. That was the first of what quickly became a sort of unannounced competition between the two, the dance of various kicks, knocks, and head bumps becoming increasingly more complicated before the eventual return.          

Part of Kaito wanted to snicker and roll his eyes at obvious posturing, but the other part of him wanted to simply sit back and enjoy watching the detective having fun and very much looking his apparent age for once.

A crowd began to form in a large circle around the two and Kaito even noticed a few of the J-leaguers watching with interest. Finally, after what had to be near a full minute of air drippling – which included a fairly impressive-looking, but completely impractical, double around-the-leg maneuver – Conan kicked the ball back to Hideo-san who caught the ball on his chest before finally letting in it fall to the ground and stepping on it. With a sigh, the professional player held up his hands in defeat.

_‘Not very subtle there, Kudo,’_ Kaito couldn’t help but think to himself wryly. While he’d admit he was impressed, the kaitou-wired part of his brain couldn’t help wondering if the shrunken teen wasn’t drawing just a little too much attention to skills that weren’t exactly common for his real age, much less his apparent one.

He approached one of the many water stations placed around the area as he watched one of the J-leaguers – someone from Big Osaka – run up to where Conan was being praised by his fellow 1st graders (well, sans Haibara who was just watching Kudo with an amused look on her face).

Kaito quickly downed the contents of the paper cup just as the man opened his mouth to speak.

**“Kudo Shinichi.”**

Only years of poker face practice prevented Kaito from very conspicuously choking in shock, and even then it was still a very near thing. As it was, even he couldn’t prevent his eyes from widening and snapping over to stare at the lightly bearded player whom Genta had called “Higo.”

**“Do you know him?”**

Kaito’s heart restarted with those words and the realization that Higo hadn’t said the name as a direct address. As Kudo struggled to come up with a response, Ran-san cut in on the conversation.

**“About Shinichi – Do you know about Shinichi?”**

Higo stood up from where he’d crouched down to be at Conan’s level, **“Yeah…I watched a match of his and called out to him before.”**

_That_ made Kaito raise an mental brow. He’d heard Kudo had been _good_ but to be called out by a professional player? Suddenly he was a feeling a just a _little_ better about those times he hadn’t quite been able to dodge that hellish soccer ball of his.

**“They looked so similar…his and this kid’s kicking form.”**

_‘Gee, wonder why?’_ Kaito snickered. Though he did wonder how kicking a ball in a match could look anything like what he’d just been watching – maybe it was just something you had to be an actual player to understand?  

With wide eyes and a nervous half-smile on his face, the shrunken detective lifted his right hand to hold it palm up beside his shoulder as if in a shrug while his left hand pointed up into the sky, **“I-I think that’s because Shinichi-niichan has been teaching me soccer!”**

All of Kaito’s amusement vanished; he wanted to groan aloud at the incredibly awkward stance, and the nervous laughter and arm-behind-the-head move that followed only made it worse. _‘Come_ on _tantei-kun! What was that pose even supposed to_ be _?’_ The explanation had actually been pretty good; if he’d just _smiled_ – maybe put a slightly boastful undertone to his voice…!

**“I see. As I thought, he’s teaching you,”** Hugo reached down and ruffled the Conan’s hair **. “Do your best in soccer!”**

Kaito did a full-on mental pratfall. _‘Seriously?’_ He stared after the man as he walked away. _'Not a word? Don’t tell me that looked_ natural _to you!'_ Then he remembered. _‘Oh. Right. He’s a_ kid _. And kids are goofy and awkward by nature.’_

He turned back to see Conan suffering under various degrees of envy from all his fellow Shounten-tantei-dan over the exchange (even Haibara participated, though her conveyance was a bit more sadistic).

For completely different reasons, Kaito could really empathize with them.

* * *

 

_'Endou-san’s free kick has so much bend to it!’_ Conan thought ecstatically as he reached his goal. He’d made his way over to one of the empty solo shooting areas in order to practice the free kick while it was still fresh in his mind. He quickly set up three balls in a line. In front of him was a gray target wall, with a dark black strip marking the dimensions of a regulation-sized soccer net.

“Start in front…like it’s an in-front kick,” he muttered aloud, squatting slightly to square his hips to the ground. He stared at the ball ahead of him, looking only at where he wanted his feet to connect on the surface of the ball.  He’d worry about aiming later, once he got down the logistics of the shot.

“But instead of kicking, scoop it.” He ran forward, swinging his leg in the familiar motion of an in-front kick but twisted his foot to the side so that rather than connecting with the top of his foot, it would connect with the side.

The ball shot sharply off to the left missing the goal completely and striking the wall right before the chain link fence separating it from the next shooting area.

Conan didn’t move. Silently, he stared at the invisible trajectory line the ball had taken, tracing it back to where it had started, and then stared down at his foot where he could still feel the tingle of the impact, directly where the arch of his foot was. Finally, he closed his eyes and recalled the image of Endou right at the moment when his foot connected with the ball.

_‘Too far back,’_ Conan shook his head. Endou’s shot hadn’t been in the middle of his foot – it had been farther forward. Not on the toes but just behind.

“Again.” He snapped his eyes open.

He stepped to the second ball, standing slightly to the left, his body angled to the right side of the net. He dashed forward.

The ball shot straight forward to strike the wall right in the middle of the net markings. There was no bend at all in the balls trajectory.

Conan growled slightly.  The feel of the impact told him he’d hit the ball exactly where he’d wanted, right at the base of the toe where it connected to the foot proper. But he’d been too focused on the contact location and had ended up simply kicking the ball with the side of his foot.

“Scoop it…” Conan closed his eyes again _. ‘Think. A normal kick is a strike; it has a single moment of impact before the ball is shot out. Scooping is different; it’s a motion. Wait! That’s right!’_

Conan suddenly recalled the sensation he’d had while watching the demonstration. He remembered feeling as though time had slowed down at the moment Endou’s foot came in contact with the ball. At the time he’d just shrugged it off as the excitement getting to him, but now he realized that that wasn’t it. _‘His foot was in contact with the ball longer.’_ Just a few microseconds but Shinichi was so familiar with the timing of kicks that the difference was easily discernable. And according to the laws of physics, there was only one way that delay was possible.

_‘The ball wasn’t completely stationary – it had to have traveled down his foot a little during the motion of the kick! That’s the scoop!’_

He snapped his eyes open and focused on the third ball; he was approaching it even before consciously deciding to move. One step. Two. He planted his left foot, his left arm shooting out to provide counterbalance. He swung his right leg out in front of him to the left while simultaneously twisting his foot to the right.

The ball connected with his shoe just outside the base of his large toe. He felt the ball roll back towards middle arch of his foot before the weight vanished, leaving his leg to finish the follow-through.

The ball sped off, right towards the dead center of the goal. But then, at the last second, it drifted to the left, hitting the wall about six inches to the left of where the initial trajectory would have placed it.

Conan stared at the wall, remeasuring the trajectory until he was absolutely certain.

He’d just bent his first free kick.

“Yes!” He jumped, pulling his fists close to his chest.

The sudden click of a camera shutter to his right startled him out of his celebration. Spinning towards the sound he saw an unfamiliar man in a tan jacket and a hairstyle reminiscent of Endou’s, though this man’s hair was a much lighter shade of brown.

“Impressive, boya!” The man grinned as he brought the camera down from his face.

_‘Another newspaper photographer?’_ Conan guessed looking at the expensive camera before scanning the rest of him. _‘But he’s not wearing a badge. So maybe a freelancer?’_ He decided to shrug it off; for all he knew the guy might just be an overly soccer-obsessed parent – he wouldn’t be the first he’d seen that day. He focused on the man’s words instead.

“Endou-san showed us how to do a free kick so I wanted to practice it right away!” He went on to describe the shot and what he’d learned. And if “Conan’s” childish exuberance came just a little bit easier than usual, well…that wasn’t anyone’s business but his.

_‘Not like anyone’s watching anyway.’_

* * *

 

Conan had just gotten out of the bathroom after rinsing off the sweat from that morning’s activities when he noticed the text alert on his phone was blinking. Walking over and grabbing the device off the coffee table, he saw it was from Kuroba.

When he opened the text screen, he was confronted with a very familiar image followed by a line of text: **Have you been practicing? I’ve never seen you look so genuine.  (^ _ ^)v**

_‘Son of a…’_ he groaned, the pieces instantly falling into place. He’d wondered why the part-time thief had been so quiet the last couple days. He contemplated for several moments, wondering if he could just pretend he’d never seen it. Then he remembered exactly who was on the other end of the conversation.

**You’ve got a real problem, you know that?**

The response came back instantly.

**Just one? Wow, I’m flattered. Pretty sure everyone else I know is at least on the second page.**

Conan snorted as he slipped onto the sofa beside the coffee table, running the towel over his still slightly damp hair. He typed in a reply.

**If you’d wanted to come, you could’ve just asked. You know Ran would’ve been fine with it.**

In fact, she’d have been more than fine with it. After that first outing (and despite the drama that had occurred during it – though honestly, that was almost normal by this point), Ran had told Kuroba that she was fine with him taking Conan out whenever he wanted. In the month since then, the two had hung out a couple other times (usually just meeting and bantering over coffee – which Conan was only too thrilled to actually be able to drink for once, much to Kuroba’s amusement), and Ran had been almost entirely responsible for those meetings. Conan had been a little confused over her enthusiasm until he’d overheard her talking to her dad.

“He’s been away from home for so long with hardly any contact with his family at all,” she’d said. “No matter how distant, at least it’s a connection!”

Hearing her worry over his welfare like that had made him feel extremely guity. It was almost enough for him to call his mother and arrange for “Mrs. Edogawa” to come for a visit.

Almost.

Kuroba’s reply thankfully arrived and saved him from his imaginings. **It was more fun this way. Plus, if I’d done it that way, I doubt I’d have gotten such an amazing souvenir shot. You should use it as study material.**

**Whatever** , Conan rolled his eyes.

**I’m actually half-serious. When that one guy (Higo?) came over and talked to you, your response was almost painful to watch!**

Conan pressed his lips together as he read the other’s message, his hands letting the towel fall back down to hang around his neck. He could remember that moment clearly, and even he had to admit he’d panicked a little. But still.

**Come on. If you were in disguise and some guy you’d only spoken to briefly once in the past came up and asked “Do you know Kuroba Kaito? The way you shuffle cards is so similar!” Even you’d freak out a little.** Just as Kuroba hadn’t mentioned the name “Shinichi” Conan was careful to avoid using “Kid” during their chats. It wasn’t something they’d ever openly discussed, but it was a routine both had naturally fallen into. It was just safer that way.

**Nope. I’ve made sure that we have very different shuffling patterns.**

_‘Of course he did,’_ Conan face-palmed. **Don’t be obtuse. You know what I mean.**

**I do. But the point remains.**

It did, but Conan wasn’t about to try to change his kicking form. **I’ve got more important things to focus on.** Plus he was proud of his form – he’d spent years honing and fine-tuning it.

**Then don’t freak out whenever something comes up.**

**That’s easier said than done for most people.** Still, he took the words as the advice they’d been meant as and changed the subject. **Was that the only reason you contacted me?**

There was a slight pause, likely as Kuroba debated whether to let the subject drop so easily. Apparently he felt he’d said enough as well, since his next message made no further mention of the issue.

**No actually. I wanted to let you know that I’ll be coming to the game tomorrow as well. A classmate’s father works at a sponsoring company and got us tickets and team shirts to wear. A whole bunch of us are going. That’s the one you’re going to right?**

Conan blinked. **Yeah. The game between Tokyo Spirits and Gamba Osaka.**

**Thought so. I guess I’ll see you there then! Bye!**

_'He’ll see me?’_ Conan stared at his phone, waiting for another message to come in, possibly with a place to meet or something. _‘That stadium holds 80,000 people! How does he think…’_ Then, again, he remembered who he’d been texting with.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 1! Please let me know what you thought! See you in chapter 2! 
> 
>  
> 
> Now, as promised, for those curious about how I timed the events (not sure if there actually is anyone though, lol):
> 
> As I’m sure you’re all aware, Detective Conan’s timeline is very screwy. If you weren’t aware here’s the proof: only a month (between Feb. 14 and March 14) passes between chapters 268 and 608 (episodes 334 and 725). This being the case, I thought some of you might be curious about the logic I used to place the movies, so I’ve written it out. The Eleventh striker was easy, since they actually include the dates, but even if they hadn’t, my research showed that the J. Leagues season schedule almost always starts on the first Saturday of March and ends on the first Saturday of December (though sometimes one or the other might be the second Saturday). 
> 
> The events of the previous movie, Quarter of Silence, were a little harder to place but by using the clues provided in the two locations, I’m pretty confident in my choice. There were two locations in the movie, Tokyo in the beginning, and Kitanosawa for the majority; there was an interval of a week between the train crash and Conan’s group arriving in Kitanosawa. Now, Kitanosawa was covered in snow but in Tokyo the leaves on the trees were still green, although the fact that characters were all wearing jackets meant the weather was getting chilly. The snowy season in Hokkaido can go anywhere from November to May, with mountainous areas (like Kitanosawa) sometimes getting snow as early as October (and flashbacks from when the village was first built showed that the town isn’t so up as to always be covered in snow). In Tokyo, the leaves usually begin to start changing color around mid-November. With these facts, I decided that the events of Quarter of Silence must have taken place around the beginning of November. Therefore, a month has passed since the events of Quarter of Silence (and therefore since the conclusion of Snowy Meeting) and the start of this story.
> 
> Of course, DC timeline being what it is, any logic is pretty pointless (which is why I’ll be trying NOT to date anything more in the story) but still. It’s the sort of thing I’d be curious about (but then, I’m a geek about things like that :P)


	2. Movie 16: The Eleventh Striker - Part 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry everyone, this was SUPPOSED to be posted over a week ago at the latest but life just got away from me for a while. Hopefully it’ll be worth the wait. 
> 
> But before we start, here’s the answer to chapter 1’s “Where’s Kaito” – marking the Toho label shot as the starting point, he appears at exactly 4 minutes into the movie; when Ayumi, Genta, and Mitsuhiko are staring around star struck at the J-Leaguers, he appears in the middle of the screen in the background, holding a camera to his face, as they exclaim “Narazaki and…Nakamura are also here!” Did you find him? 
> 
> Here’s chapter 2. Happy reading! ^_~

* * *

 

When Kaito first walked into the stadium he’d been feeling pretty confident that he’d succeed in his self-appointed challenge in locating Kudo without any help. He’d already known from a brief mention that Kudo’s group was supposed to be seated somewhere near the middle of the field. He also knew that they would undoubtedly be seated among other Spirits supporters. He’d felt that those two facts plus his own abilities would be more than sufficient, but hearing the number 80,000 and seeing it were quite different, and even he had to admit to being a little bit daunted at the prospect of locating one person among all those seats.

‘ _Good thing I’ve always liked a challenge,_ ’ Kaito thought to himself with a smirk.

“Kaito! Hurry up or we’ll get separated!” A familiar voice yelled out, easily heard despite the crowd. Kaito turned to see Aoko waving at him, the blue and white stripes on her Spirits sweatshirt blurring with the motion.

“What were you staring at over there?” Keiko, Aoko’s bespectacled friend in pigtails, asked as she leaned over to try to get a better look at where he’d been staring out through one of the gates separating the vendor area from the seating area proper.  She wore an identical shirt to Aoko’s. Seeing the side-by-side stripes, it made it apparent why the Spirits’ mascot was a blue zebra.

“Just wondering where a friend will be sitting,” Kaito shrugged, his own striped shoulders rising briefly. Everyone in their class had been given the shirts and been told to wear them as a condition of accepting the tickets – the sponsor wanted to present a wall of solidarity and support for their team.

“A friend? Who?” Aoko tilted her head. “Is it someone Aoko knows?”

“Not really. We only started hanging out recently,” Kaito shrugged again. All considered, he wouldn’t really call the pair’s meeting at Kitanosawa a proper introduction.

“Then you’ll have to introduce me sometime, okay?” Aoko smiled happily at the thought.

 _‘When the time’s right,_ ’ Kaito thought as he nodded. Deciding it was time to change the subject, Kaito raised his voice to call out to the classmate whose father had gotten them their tickets. “Hey Yamada! Where are our seats again?”

When Yamada turned around, his glasses flashing momentarily in the light, Kaito was once again struck at how different he seemed from the quiet, studious teen he was in school. This Yamada was completely decked out in Tokyo Spirits’ colors and memorabilia and the air around him was charged with excitement.

“They’re really good seats!” Yamada grinned. “We’re on the home side among the Spirits supporters, right behind the goal!”

Personally, Kaito thought it’d be better to have seats like Kudo’s, facing the middle of the field with a good view of all the action, but he supposed seats behind the goal would make it pretty exciting to watch any action happening at that net, especially for those sitting in the lower seats closer to field, which was exactly where their seats ended up being.

 _‘Section 101. Row C will be the third one up...Here it is.’_   Once he confirmed he had the right seat, he sat down and immediately pulled out his binoculars and began to systematically scan the crowd in the sections he’d narrowed his options down to. 

 “What are you doing?” Aoko asked after he’d been looking for a minute or so. She was seated in the seat next to his, Keiko on her other side.

“Looking for that friend I told you about.”

“What’s his seat number?”

“No idea,” Kaito grinned as he continued to look.

“…” Kaito could feel the incredulous stare even without looking, “you do realize how many people are here today right?”

Kaito’s grin just widened in response. After a moment, Aoko let out a puff of air and Kaito could feel her shrug her shoulders as she mumbled under her breath about weird magicians.

“You know,” Keiko leaned over to look at him, “it’ll probably be a little easier if you wait until it’s closer to the start of the game. Not everyone’s here yet and a many of those who are here are still wandering around getting snacks and souvenirs.”

Kaito hummed, acknowledging her words. “But my friend is the type to have gotten here and taken his seat early.” Aside from the fact that he was such a huge soccer fan, trying to navigate such a large crowd in a child’s body would be extremely difficult. Kaito held back a chuckle as he imaged the the disgruntled look the shrunken teen was likely to wear expression in such a scenario.

In the end, it took a little longer than he’d have liked, but he finally spotted the familiar cowlick just as the Gamba Osaka team was rewarded a free kick. Genta was sitting to one side of him, Haibara to the other.

Kaito blinked when he noticed the Spirits baseball cap on Haibara’s head. From everything he’d seen so far about the girl, he’d have pegged her as the type who wouldn’t want to mess up her appearance with hat hair.

‘ _But then again…’_

“Come on! You can block it!” Kaito glanced out of the side of the binoculars as scream a few seats erupted from the normally studiously quiet Yamada who was now waving a Spirits endorsed towel wildly through the air. ‘ _Sports_ can _bring out different sides to people._ ’

A glance at the screens overhead showed the familiar face of Endou setting up behind the ball in front of him before turning his attention back to the stands. A raucous cheer from the other side of the field and groans from around him told him the result of the kick.

He snickered as Conan leapt up when Endou’s ball went it. The angle and distance made it difficult for Kaito to make out what he was saying even with the binoculars, but a few distinct mouth shapes and the memory of what he’d seen at the soccer class the previous day was enough for him to realize that the boy was happy over seeing the same shot he’d learned. His excited shout at the opposing team’s goal, however, earned him a few glares from the other Shounen-tantei-dan who proceeded to chew him out.

“What’s so funny Kaito?”

Confident in his ability to relocate the detective now that he’d found him once, Kaito brought down the binoculars to grin at his childhood friend. Before he could say anything though, Yamada leaned over to glare at him.

“Kuroba! There’s nothing funny about the other team scoring!”

Oops. Looked like it was his turn to get reamed for non-Tokyoite-appropriate behavior.

“Well, honestly, I’m just surprised you decided to come with us at all,” Keiko spoke up after a few moments, interrupting the other boy’s tirade. “You’ve never really struck me as the type who liked to just watch sports.” 

Kaito couldn’t deny it. He’d always preferred getting up and actually playing a sport instead of watching it.

“But he’s been paying attention to the J-league lately,” Aoko spoke up beside him before he could answer. He glanced at her in surprise. Seeing his look, she grinned, looking a little proud of herself, “you usually skip the sports section when you read the paper but lately you’ve stopped to read whenever J-league rankings and scores were released.”

He continued to stare at his childhood friend, knowing Aoko wasn’t usually the type to notice such things. Had he been _that_ obvious about it? He didn’t think so…

“Oh?” Keiko piped up, putting a finger to her chin in exaggerated thought. “Wasn’t _Hakuba_ talking about that? Before he went back to England for a visit?” She smirked at her wild-haired friend.

Kaito burst out laughing as Aoko’s face went red. That made a lot more sense – though Kaito made a mental note to have a prank waiting for the blond when he got back for his snooping. Aoko turned to glare at him, obviously blaming him for the whole situation.

Kaito held up his hands defensively as he got his snickers under control. “That friend I mentioned made some predictions on what would happen this season and I was curious how accurate they’d be.” And so far, Kudo had been right a lot more than he’d been wrong.

“No! They stole it!” Yamada suddenly shouted out in dismay. Instantly, the attention of everyone around him was back on the players who had switched directions to head back toward the opposing goal. Since the players and action were now moving away from him Kaito pulled up his binoculars. 

He almost missed Kudo due to the fact that he was suddenly wearing a hat – the same hat that he’d seen Haibara wearing, though Kudo had chosen to flip it around so that the brim was facing backwards. And Haibara was now wearing a hat from a completely different team.

 _‘Wait. Those colors…where have I…oh!’_ Kaito’s eyes widened in realization. The colors were the same ones worn by the guy who’d come up to Conan’s group yesterday to ask about Kudo Shinichi. ‘ _She’d been behaving a little weird after that encounter too, acting jealous along with the other kids.’_ But he’d noticed that Haibara rarely bothered acting childish the way Conan did _. ‘So maybe it wasn’t an act? Is she a fan of that team?’_ Kaito decided that he’d try asking if Kudo knew anything. _‘But before that…’_

A cheer around him told Kaito that the Spirts’ goalkeeper had managed to prevent a second goal. Kaito glanced down as he pulled out his phone and quickly typed a text out. He waited until there was a brief lull in the game to send it, quickly bringing the binoculars up to his face as he did.

  **Nice hat.**

But the shocked reaction he’d been hoping for never came. Instead, Conan immediately pressed a couple buttons on his phone. As soon as his fingers stopped moving he looked up, seemingly _right at him_ as he brought his hand up to his glasses, clearly activating their zoom feature. _‘What the –’_   His thought was interrupted as his phone buzzed.

**101 C 14**

Kaito stared at the words on the screen for several seconds. Then, unable to stop himself even though he already knew what he would see, Kaito turned to look down at his seat. There between his legs was the number 14. Another text came in before he finished lifting his head back up. When had he…?

**I spotted you about five minutes before kickoff.**

_‘Son of a…’_ He lifted the binoculars to his face and quickly spotted the shrunken teen, who was wearing a smirk on his face that could rival even Kid’s

 Kaito fought the urge to stick his tongue out at him and instead focused back on his phone.

 

* * *

 

 

Conan would admit to feeling pretty smug even before the first reply came back. He’s been thinking about the thief’s last comment all the way to the stadium. It was obvious that the thief planned to meet him at the stadium, but with a crowd this large meeting up with someone without making a prearranged meeting spot and time would be almost impossible without knowing what seat the other party was in. And Conan had intentionally left that information out when he’d mentioned attending the game to the prank-happy teen. 

That didn’t leave Kuroba with many options. Of course, he could’ve hacked into the stadium’s database to find out which tickets the Professor had purchased, but Conan couldn’t see him taking that route. While he had no doubt that the Moonlight Magician _could_ do that, it would take all of the challenge out of it. And if there was one thing Conan had always known about Kid, it was that he loved challenges – why else would he give warning about what he planned to steal?

That left him with just one route: a visual search. Conan recalled mentioning to Kuroba that the group’s seats faced the middle of the field. From there, it would be child’s play to deduce they’d be sitting with the Spirits supporters. That still left a huge number of possibilities, but that was where the challenge would come in.

While the group was standing in line to get snacks, the thought of how Kuroba would react if Conan spotted him first occurred to him. He had no doubt the expression would be priceless. But could he?

 _‘He said his classmate got their tickets from his father who works for one of the sponsors. So they’re probably at least decent seats. And since Ekoda High School is in Tokyo, chances are they’ll also be Spirits supporters.’_ That still left a ton of options, and Conan wasn’t about to waste game time on this. Well, he figured he could at least entertain himself while he waited for the game to start. _‘The zoom on my glasses will…wait!’_ The image of a blond woman holding a tennis racket popped into his head. _‘That’s it!’_

Minerva Glass had located her mother in the stands by looking for the person who stuck out in the stand: because her mother was blind, her head wouldn’t move with everyone else’s to follow the ball and caused her to stick out when Minerva lobbed a ball high in the air.

Soccer doesn’t provide for such easily synchronized crowd movements like tennis did, but there _was_ something he could use in place of that. No matter how good Kuroba was, he couldn’t search a crowd this large with his naked eyes. And since he was here with his classmates, Kuroba was unlikely to use any Kid-type gadgets. Most likely, he’d probably just brought a pair of binoculars. And that meant there would be something to give him away if Conan used Minerva’s technique of watching the crowds.

When the group got to their seats Conan immediately began scanning the area. It only took him a couple minutes to spot a telltale flash of light glinting off of glass from someone who very definitely wasn’t watching the field. Judging from the angle of the binoculars, the magician was currently scanning a couple sections over. Conan quickly figured out the exact seat Kuroba was in and typed it out in text. Then he sat back and waited.

He’d been right. Kuroba’s face had been priceless.

  **Ok. How?**

Conan snorted. He could clearly sense the other’s disgruntlement through those two words. He’d probably hated having to ask but couldn’t allow himself to not know.

**Oh? I thought you magicians hated having the secrets revealed?**

The other openly scowled at him across the intervening distance.

 **(╬ Ò** **‸** **Ó)**

Conan chuckled and began to type.

 **It’s really not that hard. I used one of the properties a certain thief always uses to hide his face**. Conan decided it wasn’t really necessary to mention the case with Ms. Glass.

He could tell the other understood the moment he read the words.

**Light reflection**

  **Exactly. You stuck out like a sore thumb~!**

 

* * *

 

Kaito couldn’t completely hide the wince when he read that. The Kaitou Kid shouldn’t stick out unless he _wanted_ to stick out.

 _‘Sorry Dad,’_ Kaito apologized to his predecessor.

He kept the binoculars down but looked back towards Conan who, he had no doubt, was still looking at him. He lifted his shoulders and hands up slightly in a shrug; he had to admit defeat this time.  A few moments later his phone buzzed with another text.

**Now stop goofing off and watch the game.**

Kaito’s sudden laughter caught everyone around him by surprise.

 _‘Very well, Tantei-kun, I’ll leave you alone so you can enjoy your sport.’_ That wouldn’t stop him from peeking at the other every once in a while.

 

* * *

 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So. That’s chapter 2. Hopefully you liked it? Please R&R so I know how I’m doing. The chapter was more amusement than action this time, but there was a bit of foreshadowing for next time if you’ve seen the movie – I wonder who caught it? Well, until then! I’ll try to have the next chapter up by the end of the month, ok?


	3. Movie 16: The Eleventh Striker - Part 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone, I am so sorry it's been so long since my last update. Just as I was getting ready to post this next chapter my grandmother suddenly passed away. I've been struggling with some depression since then and just couldn't get my motivation up to post or even write. I apologize to everyone who's been waiting for the next chapter and I'll do my best to get the next few out in a regular manner. Thanks for waiting and I hope you enjoy!
> 
> Happy reading! ^_~

* * *

 

As it turned out, professional soccer players actually made the game pretty interesting to watch and even Kaito was cheering out when the Spirits managed to tie the game up in the last few moments before half-time. 

Kaito stood up with everyone else for the traditional rush to the restrooms/vendor stalls, but due to his skill at maneuvering through crowds he was back at his seat much sooner than everyone else in his group.  With nothing else to do, especially with the half-time show not really interesting him, he found himself looking over toward Kudo’s group fairly regularly. Of course, since they’d also left their seats for half-time there wasn’t much to see.

When he finally did spot Kudo, he immediately knew something was wrong. His body language had completely shifted. Before, he’d been more relaxed than Kaito could really ever recall seeing the detective before. Now, as he ran up to the professor, his back was rigid, his shoulders were squared and his tiny frame looked as though it was wound tight with tension. He watched as Agasa-hakase held something out to him that glinted slightly under the stadium lights. ‘ _Keys?’_ Then he ran off just as the whistle for the second kick-off sounded without even a single glance back.  

He sent off a text. **Did something happen?** Despite knowing what the likely response would be.

A few days after hanging out with the kids in the park, Ran had called and asked if he wanted to take Conan for a few hours – her father had vanished to buy some new Okino Yoko collectable and she had plans to go shopping with Sonoko, but Conan hadn’t really seemed to want to come along. Immediately sympathizing with the boy’s plight, Kaito had agreed and the two ended up debating the authenticity of Maurice Leblanc’s story “The Blonde Lady” at a coffee shop. They had kept up the debate through texts even after departing, but then Conan had suddenly stopped replying in the middle of the conversation. Kaito had sent several texts and even called but got no response. After almost half an hour of silence, Kaito had become concerned enough to turn around and go look for the shrunken teen. He’d ended up finding him at – surprise surprise – a crime scene.

Kaito had held back his irritation until the bad guy got carted off by the police, then he’d pulled a surprised Kudo to the side and told him, “Next time, if you’re caught up in a case and I text, you could at least hit a few buttons in reply so I know you haven’t gotten yourself killed!” before stalking off back home. 

Kaito had really only said the words out of irritation – a less embarrassing way to let the detective know he’d worried him and that maybe next time he should answer his damn phone.

Kudo had decided to take him literally. 

**ft4**

Kaito bit back a sigh before putting his phone away. He sat back and began to think. _‘He came for the car keys, but he’s not driving, not in that form – so he needed to unlock the car. For what? He’s not usually the type to forget things, so it was probably something left intentionally. Maybe something too large to carry around? Yet it was still important enough for him to bring anyway – or it’s a habit to bring it. Like one of his gadgets.’_

And there was only one gadget Kaito knew about that fit those criteria: his turbo skateboard. And if he wanted _that_ it was likely that Kudo needed to travel somewhere quickly.

_'So, whatever the trouble is, it’s not here.’_ Kaito nodded at his reasoning and allowed himself to relax a bit with the knowledge that there wasn’t a murderer hiding among the thousands of people here.

Knowing that Kudo could usually handle himself, Kaito tried to refocus on the game – it was really starting to heat up and Kaito felt bad for Kudo having to leave early when he’d clearly been enjoying it. Still, every once in a while his eyes would wander over to the empty seat.

That’s why he noticed when Haibara suddenly stood up and dashed off. Glancing at her retreating from though the binoculars he saw that, just like Tantei-kun before, her body language had changed from the near-bored it had been all day to stiff and tense. Instincts prickling, Kaito stood up as well.  Seeing his movement, Aoko turned away from the game.

“Kaito? Where are you going?”

“Bathroom.”

“You just went during halftime!”

“Yeah. Guess it was a mistake ordering that extra-large drink!” He grinned as her face reddened slightly. He easily dodged the smack she aimed at him before quickly and easily maneuvering down the row. 

Kaito entered the now all-but-deserted halls just as a groan reverberated from behind him, telling him that Osaka’s penalty kick had been successful. Kaito ignored the bit of disappointment he felt in favor of figuring out which direction to go.

Considering the situation, Kaito figured the girl had probably received a phone call or text from Tantei-kun. If that was case, she was likely to go somewhere that would offer some privacy. Calculating instantly, Kaito took off in a silent sprint towards to women’s bathrooms closest to where the girl was seated.

Instincts honed through his nighttime job had him stopping before he fully came into view of the opening to the bathroom. As a familiar murmur spoke a moment later from just through the doorway, Kaito realized that she wasn’t in the bathroom proper but in the small hall that lead to it. Staying there, she’d be able to avoid the echoing environment of the bathroom while still having decent privacy while also providing the added advantage of preventing anyone from coming too close without being seen.  Kaito raised a mental eyebrow – he doubted he could have found a better location himself on such short notice. 

He shook his head, shoving all thoughts of curiously sneaky children out of his mind for now. He leaned causally up against the wall, so that to anyone who looked he’d appear to simply be waiting outside the women’s restroom for someone, and was finally able to focus on what the girl was saying when he heard her give a small gasp.

“A bomb?”

Kaito breath froze in his lungs and he was suddenly overcome with a very unpleasant sense of déjà vu. Mouri Kogorou had said that same word, albeit much louder, just over a month ago during the Kitanosawa incident. Kaito wanted to face palm. And then bang his head against a wall. Because, really? Again?

“Wait, Kudo-kun! Kudo-kun!”

Kaito deadpanned. _‘Good to know I’m not the only one he hangs up on.’_ Hearing muted steps drawing closer, Kaito pushed off the wall and quickly walked away – Haibara knew who he was now after all. While he would have loved to question her to find out exactly what Tantei-kun had told her, he could tell she still didn’t really trust him yet; Kudo had warned him that it would probably take a while and that he should give her space until she was ready (well, his exact words had been to not pester her, but it amounted to the same thing, right?).

As he made his way back towards his seat, Kaito couldn’t help reaching into his jacket pocket to grab his phone, but he resisted actually pulling it out. As things were, there was nothing Kaito could do to help, and if Kudo really was dealing with a bomb (‘ _again!’_ ), then the last thing the detective needed right now was a distraction.

“You took forever Bakaito!”

Blinking at the sound of Aoko’s voice, Kaito was surprised to discover he’d made it all the way back to his seat without any conscious thought.

Repeating his father’s adage to himself, Kaito instantly schooled his features into an annoyed grimace. “Shut up, Ahoko! Some things can’t be rushed. And it’s not like I couldn’t hear what was happening over the speakers.”

“Ah! Look!” Keiko suddenly shouted and pointed at the field. “The Spirits have the ball again!”

Instantly, Aoko’s attention was back on the game and Kaito settled down into his seat and tried to do the same. 

* * *

 

“I’ll prevent the fall of the electric scoreboard somehow!” Conan promised Haibara as he ended the call.  

When Ran had called him during half time about a code a bomber had left Mouri, the last thing Conan had expected was for it to point to the very location he was in, but after racing his skateboard up to the stadium rafters, he’d confirmed the existence of several dozen bombs strapped to the electric scoreboard that hung over the heads of the Spirits’ supporters on the home side. 

He’d already informed Megure-keibu of the situation and told him to evacuate the stands, but he also knew that that might not be enough. There was only 30 minutes left to detonation; it would be barely enough time to simply get the fans in the designated sections out of their seats and – most likely – evacuated onto the field. But there was no telling what would happen when that massive scoreboard, weighing several thousand pounds, came crashing to the earth.

The bombs were simple and quick to disarm, but with so many of them and so little time disabling them all was impossible. However, if Conan could save the scoreboard’s central supporting pillars, his suspenders _might_ be enough to do the rest.

It was the best plan he could come up with, so that’s what he was doing. And now that he had called Haibara back to update her on the situation and have her keep the kids in check, he could get back to the task at hand.

Reaching out, he deactivated the bomb in front of him then quickly hit the button on his suspenders to pull himself back up to beam above. As he began to pull the straps forward to the next position, he cursed again at the slow method he was being forced to take. Having to rappel down to each bomb on the side of the wide beam was costing him time he didn’t have.

As Conan looked down to judge his position, a deafening cry exploded through the crowd below as whistles and calls signifying a goal rang out.

_‘Now’s the time to start the evacuation, while there’s a break in the play,’_ Conan thought to himself as he let his focus slip past the bomb, only to be struck by a vague sense of familiarity as he stared down at the section of crowd directly beneath him. Then he realized it.

He was directly over the section that Kuroba and his friends’ seats were in.

Conan let loose a litany of internal curses. _How_ had he forgotten? Kaitou Kid is too wild a card to forget about!

But as he located the bird’s nest hairstyle, Conan understood. It wasn’t the international jewel thief sitting down there. It was just Kuroba Kaito, high school magician and prankster, out with his friends.

It was strange. Even though the two of them had hung out a couple times since Kitanosawa, Conan had never really made a distinction between the two. In Conan’s eyes, “Kuroba Kaito” might as well have been another disguise of Kid’s. It was only now, seeing him sitting down there with his peers, equally facing a danger none of them knew existed, that it really finally clicked.

_‘Kid or Kuroba though, neither’s the type to just sit back and do as ordered,’_ he groaned at the thought. He pulled out his phone even as the first emergency announcement began.  He debated for only a moment whether to call or text, before opening his messenger. Haibara had only been able to hear him because she’d isolated herself and Conan couldn’t risk shouting and drawing attention to his actions or wasting time having to repeat himself. He sent the message a couple seconds later while simultaneously jumping down to get to work on the next bomb. 

He was running out of time.

* * *

                                                                                                  

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! That's chapter 3! Please R&R! Your reviews really mean a lot to me!


	4. Movie 16: The Eleventh Striker, Part 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Thanks for all your kind words last time! I'm back to present you with chapter 4! Hope it was worth the wait!
> 
> Happy reading! ^_~

 

* * *

As the soccer ball rebounded off the top of the crossbar, Kaito was on his feet right along with his classmates as the Spirits' Hideo Akagi forcibly squeezed his way through two opposing players and headed the ball into the net right in front of their seats. Kaito laughed as he watched Yamada tackle-hug his neighbor in joy.

With all the excitement going on in front of him, neither he nor anybody else noticed the club staff coming out onto the field and speaking with the referees. It was only when a woman's voice began to speak over the announcement system that anyone noticed anything amiss.

"Attention everyone in the stadium, we have an emergency situation.

All the excitement Kaito had been feeling evaporated instantly the moment those words sank in. Thoughts quickly began to tumble through his mind.

An emergency situation in the stadium.

Tantei-kun running off.

Haibara's phone call.

Bomb.

Emergency.

It all equaled one thing: the bomb was in the stadium.

The realization made his mind go numb, but he had no time to contemplate it as, a moment later, a buzzing in his pocket caused Kaito to physically jump in his seat. Whipping it out he saw a message from Kudo and immediately opened it.

**Listen. Stay with friends. Far end.**

Kaito stared uncomprehendingly at the words. That was it? Not a word about the bomb? No suggested plan of action? How much time did they have? What –

The intelligent part of Kaito's brain finally broke through the panic with a jolt. The sensation reminded him oddly of getting hit with one of Aoko's mops, but he'd analyze that comparison later.

 _'Focus on the message,'_ he told himself firmly. If Kudo was dealing with bombs, of course he'd be short. Actually, Kaito was kind of amazed Kudo had bothered to contact him at all. Though that might have been more out of fear of what Kaito would do otherwise than anything else.

 _'Right. Focus. So – Listen. Listen to what?'_ Even as he thought that the female announcer began to repeat her words on the broadcasting system. _'Of course. He's telling me to do as I'm told and not go off on my own.'_

Suspected reason for contacting him: confirmed.

"What's going on? 'Supporters on the Spirit's side'…that's us, right? " Aoko's voice broke through Kaito's thoughts and he glanced at her sharply, then at Keiko and the rest of his classmates beyond her.

 _'Stay with friends. Reminding me I'm not alone right now. Dammit Kudo. Fine. I get it.'_ He hated to admit it, but Kudo had read him perfectly. Had Kaito been alone, had been Kid, he'd have disregarded the order and gone to investigate anyway. He hated just standing around. But Kudo was right. He was Kuroba now, and Aoko was starting to look very nervous as a staff member approached their group.

"Everyone from this row please evacuate. There's no hurry. Move with the flow in a safe manner towards the center of the pitch."

The last part of Kudo's message flashed behind his eyes. _'Far end. He predicted they'd move us onto the pitch. He's saying to get as far from this section as possible. Is the bomb beneath the seats? Or–'_

A pressure on his left arm snapped Kaito from his thoughts. He looked down to see Aoko fingers grasping the material of his shirt sleeve.

"Kaito…"

Reaching out to place a hand over hers, Kaito eased her fingers loose even as he put on a reassuring smile. "It's alright, Aoko. I'm sure everything will be fine!"

_'Right, Kudo?'_

* * *

"I still don't get why we couldn't…others are doing it! I could've gotten some cool pictures!"

Kaito rolled his eyes as Yamada continued to mutter under his breath. To say he was annoyed at Kaito's insistence that the group go to the far end of the pitch was a bit of an understatement. He'd been alternating between the repetitious muttering and glaring at Kaito for the last five minutes.

For his part, Kaito couldn't help looking back the way they'd come, wondering where the bombs were and how long they had. Would the bombs even go off? Kaito knew Kudo had experience diffusing bombs. He'd handled the simple ones on Jirokichi's airship easily, and if Kaito's hunch was right about what really happened at the Tohto Tower bombing attempt a while back, the detective was probably capable of handling a lot more. But even if Kudo did have the ability to diffuse the bombs it didn't mean he had the time. How long did they have?

' _And now I'm officially thinking in circles,'_ Kaito let out a quiet sigh and tried to focus his thoughts on something else. He glanced over to where he knew the rest of the Shounen Tantei-dan were. He couldn't presently see them through the crowd surrounding him, but he'd confirmed they were still at their seats when he'd passed their section as he led his group across the pitch earlier. So at least they hadn't run off to investigate and cause more trouble again. _'That's something at least.'_

Now if only he could be sure of the location of the group's most troublesome member. His eyes were once more drawn across the pitch to the now empty section behind the goal.

"Kaito? What are you looking at?" Aoko asked beside him, craning her neck in the direction he was looking. "Did you forget something at your seat?"

"No," Kaito shook his head. After a moment's consideration he added on truthfully. "I'm just wondering where that friend I told you about is."

"What? Was he in our section?" She began to look around the pitch. The action made Kaito smile slightly, since she didn't even know who she was looking for.

"No, but…well, let's just say he's not the type to just sit back and watch something like this happen."

"Hey! That's Akagi-san!" Yamada announced suddenly a few feet away, drawing both their attention away. "He's so close! Maybe I can get a selfie with him!"

"Yamada!" Kaito stepped forward. "This isn't the time for that!"

Yamada turned to glare at him right as the first explosion went off.

Aoko screamed and flung herself at him, and Kaito's arms immediately settled around her protectively as he watched several more bombs go off in quick succession around the electric scoreboard that they'd all been sitting beneath not fifteen minutes before. The acrid smell of burnt plastic and metal quickly began to fill the air and Kaito could feel his skin prickle from the heat even from this distance.

' _Good gods.'_ Kaito gaped as he watched a section of scaffolding fall down onto some of the upper seats. _'Tantei-kun, you better not be anywhere near that,'_ but even as that thought crossed his mind, Kaito was struck by another. _'What did he need his skateboard for, anyway? He was already here…'_ There was also a niggling feeling he'd had for a while that was refusing to leave him alone. Something from when Haibara had run off…

It hit him.

The angle of her head. _She'd been looking up_.

With the explosions around the board dying down, Kaito drew his eyes up as well. He quickly took in all the various structures and possible routes around them. But any further thoughts were interrupted by a gasp to his left.

"Hey…if _that_ scoreboard blew up, what about this one?" Keiko pointed up towards the opposing scoreboard, which they were now very close to standing directly beneath. "What if –"

"No," Kaito shook his head firmly even as he felt Aoko tense in his arms. "They knew about the bombs. That's why they only evacuated our section." No doubt based on Kudo's advice, and Kaito was absolutely certain the detective would have checked both scoreboards. In fact, that's probably what Haibara had seen: tantei-kun crossing from one scoreboard to the other, probably on the skateboard.

Kaito glanced up at the thought but a growing rumbling sound had his attention shooting back towards to the other side of the stadium. Kaito's stomach plummeted at what saw.

"The scoreboard! It's falling!" Aoko's voice was barely a squeak as she realized it as well.

The huge scoreboard, its surrounding structures weakened by the explosions around it, came crashing down into the seats beneath, the ground of the stadium shuddering with the impact. But it didn't stop there. Once it received the initial jolt, gravity and the board's huge mass continued to draw it down the stands. Somehow, something, probably a combination of the angle of seating, the weight of the board, and its growing momentum, was working to keep the screen upright in its downward run, but once it hit the pitch there'd be nothing to stop it from plunging forward to land on its face – right onto hundreds of fans still milling about on the pitch near the stands, standing frozen in horror and fear as they stared at the looming disaster steadily drawing closer to them.

Kaito shoved Aoko behind him even as he screamed.

" _Don't just stand there! RUN!"_

But even with Kid's vocal training, Kaito's voice wasn't loud enough to reach beyond the screams and panic echoing across the stadium. He felt helpless; he had nothing on him that could possibly help in this situation and was too far away to even try if he did. All he could do was watch in horror as the near-house-sized screen continued its path of destruction while the people in its path were frozen in shock.

In a few moments that each felt like an eternity, the board crashed through the final barricade surrounding the pitch and onto solid ground with another resonating thump that seemed to rattle the ribs in Kaito's chest. The jolt, as predicted, sent the face rolling forward towards the crowd.

Then, miraculously, it stopped.

Kaito couldn't believe his eyes. At the angle the scoreboard was leaning at, there was no way its weight shouldn't have pulled it down the rest of the way. _'So how…?'_

Through the dust behind the board Kaito thought he saw something and without a second thought he pulled his binoculars up from where they were still resting around his neck.

There. A line. Connecting the scoreboard to a support pillar near the back of the stadium.

' _What in the…'_ Then he remembered. _'Kudo! Those suspenders!'_ A slightly hysterical laugh nearly escaped his mouth. _'The heck are those things made of!?'_

Somehow, Kudo had managed to stop the scoreboard's forward momentum, but something had to give. There was way too much kinetic force involved for everything to stop where it was. Either the pillar would give, the suspenders would break, or…

Or whatever the suspenders were attached to on the board would break away and provide an opposing force just strong enough to tilt the board back a few degrees and send it falling backwards instead of forwards.

The relief that went through him as the board finally settled almost made his legs give out from beneath him. _'He did it. He saved the day. Again.'_ He shook his head, a grin threatening to break out. _'Not_ quite _as impressive as saving a whole mountain village like last month, but still. Very impressive Kudo.'_

But as Kaito recalled the outcome of last month's adventure, he also remembered just how close Kudo had come to dying as a result. And there was a lot of rubble on the other side of the stadium.

Suddenly, Kaito wasn't feeling quite so giddy anymore.

"You're still worried about your friend, aren't you?"

Kaito blinked and looked behind him to find Aoko smiling fondly at him. He fought down a blush at the look and nodded in response. "Yeah. It's just like him to get wrapped up in this sort of thing." But he couldn't leave Aoko – she was probably still freaked out even if she was hiding it. And he had Keiko and the others to think about as well.

" _Kaito_ ," The magician blinked as he suddenly found Aoko's face right in front of his, and he felt his face go hot. "Go. Aoko and the others are _fine_. You already made sure of that by getting us so far away. Go find your friend."

"Aoko…are you sure?" Leaving her after such an event really didn't sit well with him, but he couldn't deny he was worried about Kudo as well.

"Of course. Just make sure I get that introduction!" She grinned then turned him around by the shoulders and gave him a light shove.

"You will. I promise." And sooner rather than later, Kaito decided as he slipped through the crowd.

 

* * *

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's chapter 4! Please let me know what you think! Until next time!


End file.
